The armies met on Kurukshetra, a plain to the north-west of the modern Delhi, and we are told that "monstrous elephants career over the field, trampling on men and horses, and dealing destruction with their huge tusks; enormous clubs and iron maces clash together with the noise of thunder; rattling chariots dash against each other; thousands of arrows hurtle in the air, darkening the sky; trumpets, kettledrums, and horns add to the uproar; confusion, carnage, and death are everywhere."

The Pandus are described as performing prodigies of might. Arjuna killed five hundred warriors simultaneously, covered the plain with dead, and filled rivers with blood: Yudhishthira "slaughtered a hundred men" in a mere twinkle: Bhima annihilated a monstrous

elephant, including all mounted upon it, and fourteen foot soldiers besides, with one blow of his club: Nakula and Sahadeva, when fighting from their chariots, cut off heads by the thousand, and sowed them like seed upon the ground. Of the weapons employed, about a hundred are named; and the conch shell which served as the trumpet of each leader had its distinct name, as had also the weapons of each of the chiefs.

The first great single combat was between Bhishma and Arjuna, which resulted in Bhishma being so transfixed with arrows that "there was not a space of two fingers' breadth on his whole body unpierced. Falling from his chariot, his body could not touch the ground, as it was surrounded by countless arrows, and thus it reclined on its arrowy couch. He had received from his father the power of fixing the time of his own death, and now declared that lie intended retaining life till the sun entered the summer solstice. The warriors on both sides ceased fighting that they might view the wonderful sight and do homage to their dying relative. As he lay on his uncomfortable bed, with his head hanging down, he begged for a pillow, whereupon the chiefs brought him soft supports; these the hardy old soldier sternly rejected. Arjuna then made a rest for him with three arrows, which Bhishma quite approved; and soon afterwards asked him to bring a little water. Arjuna struck the ground with an arrow, and forthwith a pure spring burst forth, which so refreshed Bhishma that he called for Duryodhana, and begged him, before it was too late, to restore half the kingdom to the Pandavas."

Drona, the tutor of the princes, is appointed to take the command of the Kuru army after the fall of Bhishma; and a number of single combats are described. Bhima's